Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
This 1966 reading from Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony is a classic. A noble, compassionate interpretation, it represents a very successful melding of the English oratorio tradition with the then-emerging notion of an authentic performance style emphasizing lightness of texture and firm rhythmic underpinning. In its latest incarnation, as a Philips "Duo" offering (two CDs for the price of one), it's an especially good bargain. --Ted Libbey

Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis, Music, George Frideric Handel, London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Colin Davis, Heather Harper, Helen Watts, John Wakefield, John Shirley-Quirk, Choral, Christmas / Chanukkah, Christmas Music, Classical, Oratorio, Xmas Classical Vocal
Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • The best Messiah
  • A Fabulous Pre-Digital "Desert Island" Messiah
  • a standard Messiah
  • Very High Quality, Petite Size, Right Price
  • All of these reviews can't be wrong...and weren't!
 Handel - Messiah / Harper, Watts, Wakefield, Shirley-Quirk, LSO, C. Davis
George Frideric Handel , London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus , Sir Colin Davis , Heather Harper , Helen Watts , John Wakefield , and John Shirley-Quirk
Manufacturer: Philips
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B00000416H
Release Date: 1993-11-09

Tracks:

  1. Part I: Sym
  2. Part I: No.1 Accompagnato: Comfort ye. Comfort ye, My people
  3. Part I: No.2 Air: Ev'ry valley shall be exalted
  4. Part I: No.3 Chorus: And the glory of the Lord
  5. Part I: No.4 Accompagnato: Thus saith the Lord
  6. Part I: No.5 Air: But who may abide the day of His coming
  7. Part I: No.6 Chorus: And He shall purify the sons of Levi
  8. Part I: No.7 Recitative: Behold, a virgin shall conceive/Nos.8-9 Air and Chorus: O thou that...
  9. Part I: No.10 Accompagnato: For behold, darkness shall cover the earth/No.11 Air: The people that...
  10. Part I: No.12 Chorus: For unto us a Child is born
  11. Part I: No.13 Pifa: Pastoral Sym
  12. Part I: No.14 Recitative: There were shepheards/Accompagnato: And lo, the angel of the Lord...
  13. Part I: No.15 Chorus: Glory to God in the highest
  14. Part I: No.16 Air: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
  15. Part I: No.17 Recitative: Then shall the eyes of the blind
  16. Part I: No.18 Duet: He shall feed His flock
  17. Part I: No.19 Chorus: His yoke is easy
  18. Part II: No.20 Chorus: Behold the Lamb of God
  19. Part II: No.21 Air: He was despised

Tracks:

  1. 1) Surely He hath borne our griefs, 2) And with His stripes, 3) All we like sheep have gone astray
  2. All they that see Him
  3. He trusted in God
  4. Thy rebuke hath broken His heart
  5. Behold, and see
  6. 1) He was cut off, 2) But Thou didst not leave
  7. Lift up your heads
  8. 1) Unto which of the angels, 2) Let all the angels of God
  9. Thou art gone up high
  10. The Lord gave the word
  11. How beautiful are the feet
  12. Their sound is gone out
  13. Why do the nations?
  14. Let us break their bonds asunder
  15. 1) He that dwelleth in heaven, 2) Thou shalt break them
  16. Hallelujah
  17. I know that my Redeemer liveth
  18. Since by man came death
  19. Behold, I tell you a mystery
  20. The trumpet shall sound
  21. 1) Then shall be brought to pass, 2) O death, where is thy sting?, 3) But thanks be to God
  22. If God be for us
  23. 1) Worthy is the Lamb, Blessing and Honour 2) Amen

Amazon.com essential recording

This 1966 reading from Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony is a classic. A noble, compassionate interpretation, it represents a very successful melding of the English oratorio tradition with the then-emerging notion of an authentic performance style emphasizing lightness of texture and firm rhythmic underpinning. In its latest incarnation, as a Philips "Duo" offering (two CDs for the price of one), it's an especially good bargain. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars The best Messiah.......2007-07-09

This classic recording still stands the test of time. Sir Colin Davis leads his small ensemble of singers and players in a polished and clearly articulated rendition of this often heard oratorio. Every voice and every instrument is heard in a perfect blend. No massive chorus and orchestra with a muddy sound on this recording. I have owned this version since it came out on a LP recording when I was in college. It is still the best.

5 out of 5 stars A Fabulous Pre-Digital "Desert Island" Messiah.......2007-05-30

I must say that the "Messiah" was very off-putting to me for a very long time when I first started collecting and listening to classical music, as I had only ever heard a couple excerpts from it, and those with deadly frequency, like the Hallelujah Chorus, which I "hated", so I stayed away from it like the plague.

This recording,(other than the Hallelujah Chorus, and one or two other bits), was my first exposure to this great work. I researched for a long time to find the "best" recording available, and at the time (late 60's) this was IT!

It still is, although through the years my favorite "Messiah" has "graduated", become more "brilliant", become more "soft", more "strident", more "original instrument", more "chamber-like", etc. I have loved and revered many recordings since discovering this one. Currently, the John Butt on Linn records truly is the best recording I've ever heard, followed closely by the Renee Jacobs. (See my "Messiah" Listmania list, by all means.)

BUT, this review is of the Colin Davis recording, and I will get back to it.

This recording is like an old "school friend", and I come back to be with it very often. I still treasure this effort on the part of Colin Davis and his soloists, truly a "benchmark" recording. I see here that this has been remastered on the "Philips 50" series, and I am sure that I will seek out this new pressing for my shelves, as I will ALWAYS want a copy of this old friend nearby.

Whether you are coming to the Messiah for the first time, or have many recordings of it, by all means pick this great treasure up for your collection...you will discover a truly great Desert Island disc. Happy Listening! ~operabruin

5 out of 5 stars a standard Messiah.......2006-12-16

The Philips Classics series has many appealing features, not least of which is good value. This series typically offers two CDs for the price of about one-and-a-half. They feature top-rank and often legendary performers. Finally, they are digitally remastered recordings from the sixties and seventies, many of which rank as standard-bearing readings of the classical canon.

This 1966 London Symphony Orchestra performance of Handel's incalculably beautiful MESSIAH is robust in the old-school, English, big-voiced, fully-orchestrated, modern-instrument manner. This is the MESSIAH that first put the lump in your throat and made you wonder at how regular folks stood when 'Hallelujah' came up.

I find it almost breathtaking to sit here - again - among the speakers and come to grips with the fact that the pure sound emerging is from a recording that took place *four decades* ago. Harper, Watts, Wakefield, and Shirley-Quirk are in marvelous voice.

Do yourself a favor. Break the Messiah-at-Christmas routine (though *do* listen at Christmas), buy this CD, and sit down with it for an evening at some atypical time of year, say, when an autumnal nip is in the air.

Handel's uniquely musical hearing of a Christian retelling of the biblical prophets and their adumbration in the New Testament that was conventional in its day is a work for the ages. Resonant, effortlessly intertextual, energized by both faith and art, MESSIAH is one of Christendom's jewels.

It is nearly a fool's errand to review Messiah in a few paragraphs, even more when the reading is question is that of Sir Colin Davis and a throaty English cast.

Simply impeccable.

5 out of 5 stars Very High Quality, Petite Size, Right Price.......2006-11-30

This is the first recording of George Fredric Handel's 'Messiah' I am reviewing, so my thoughts are based largely on a comparison with a listening to some of Handel's lesser Oratorios. Even in his less famous works, one gets the sense that Handel could have used Dr. Johnson's dictionary for a libretto and have gotten magnificent choral passages from it. The 'Messiah', as everyone know, simply goes over the top with the full and longish Hallelujah Chorus. The oratorio is even better than that, in that it has few dullish recitives, and at least those are on the most important events in the Christian calendar.

One of the advantages of having so many great recordings of works of this stature is that it is easy to find first rate performances at a reasonable price, and this one easily qualifies. I will review other renditions and change my opinion here if I find something dramatically better.

5 out of 5 stars All of these reviews can't be wrong...and weren't!.......2006-11-24

I absolutely love Handel's Messiah. I had a recording by Otto Klemperer and the Philharmonica Orchestra for years before losing part of the set. I haven't been able to find a replacement so finally settled on getting a different production. With so many choices, this was a little overwhelming and made me indecisive.

These reviews, however, settled it for me. I'm not sophisticated about classical music or Handel, but most of these reviewers are. I truly appreciate the care and time everyone took to critique this production. I finally took the plunge and bought it.

This is simply awesome. The hope, sorrow, despair, renewed hope and, finally, triumph involve the full range of our emotions. I am completely caught up in it when I listen to it; time is suspended and my spirit soars. This is the mark of excellent music to me.

So, from an unsophisticated but appreciative listener, take my advice. Buy this set. All of these great reviewers can't be wrong, and they aren't. This is art supreme.

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